Protecting Children From Adult Apps

More and more, folks are coming to realize this wonderful world of apps, smartphones, and tech has certain downsides. While the power of the universe in the palm of our hands continues to revolutionize our world, children can be very easily exposed to things meant for adults only, or apps that could be misused by children, causing them harm. A recent study found that Apple’s App Store rating system wasn’t getting the job done.

The risky apps included 25 chat apps with a total of 37 million downloads, consisting of apps that connected with strangers, anonymous chat apps, and AI chat apps. The report adds one of the kids chat apps had users saying it is “nothing but paedophiles.”

There were 40 unfiltered Internet access apps in the group, with 291 million combined downloads. Those apps included some that advertised the ability to get around school filters, granting access to banned sites.

Beauty and body-related apps made up 75 of the total risky apps, including encouraging 20-hour fasts and starvation-level calorie goals.

52 gaming apps were found to have risky elements, with some offering “XXXSpicy” features including dares such as streaking. Others were considered to be violent video games, and with players pretending to be murderers and drug dealers.

States have made attempts to tackle underage access to porn sites, but in reality, a national standard must be set on these issues. Fortunately, Congress is trying to do something. Late last year Senator Mike Lee (UT) and Representative John James (MI-10) introduced the App Store Accountability Act.

The Act would, among other things:

• Establishing a private right of action: Parents may seek relief, including actual and punitive damages, for harm caused by exposure to dangerous content.
• Providing a safe harbor for compliant app stores: Platforms can meet minimum standards by offering tools like secure age verification, parental oversight, and accurate app age ratings.
• Requiring transparency and oversight: Annual certifications and a complaint mechanism will ensure tools are effective and loopholes are closed.
• Prohibiting data exploitation: The sale of age-related data collected for verification will be strictly prohibited.

In support of this Legislation, Senator Lee said:

“For too long, app stores and developers have prioritized profits over the safety of our children. Parents are doing their best to shield their kids from harmful content, but the tools available are often ineffective, inaccessible, and easy to bypass. This legislation puts parents back in control by holding app stores accountable and ensuring they offer robust protections for kids.”

Representative James added:

“The lack of guardrails on digital app stores defies logic and puts children at risk. There is simply no good reason why app stores should be allowed to circumvent the same lawful ID checks that brick-and-motor stores abide by to protect children from accessing age restricted items, such as alcohol and tobacco. When it comes to protecting children, no one is above the law – including Big Tech.”

While I’d prefer the government not impose these types of restrictions on private businesses, the sheer volume of dangerous content available on devices makes this a necessity.